petronellatech.com/help
You Found the Right Page. Take a Breath.
This is the victim help center at Petronella Technology Group, a digital forensics and cybersecurity firm in Raleigh, North Carolina, in business since 2002 and BBB A+ accredited since 2003. Whether you are being stalked, lost money to a scam, are being extorted, or lost control of an account, start here. Free guidance first, honest answers always.
What Is Happening to You?
Pick the situation that fits best. Each page explains what is going on, what to do in the first hours, what evidence to save, and how to get help. If nothing fits exactly, call us or use the form at the bottom of this page.
Free Self-Help: Start Here Tonight
You do not have to spend anything to start protecting yourself. These resources are the same first steps we walk clients through.
Guided Courses in the Academy
If you want structured, step-by-step video training instead of piecing it together yourself, these self-paced courses cover personal digital protection at consumer prices:
Talk to the Expert
When you need answers about your specific situation, book a one-hour consultation with Craig Petronella, a court-tested digital forensics expert (North Carolina Licensed Digital Forensics Examiner, DFE #604180, MIT-Certified in AI and Blockchain). This is real expert time, not a sales call.
From $750/hourPrepaid only. No free consulting. Your payment is credited toward any engagement that follows.
- A written action plan. You leave the hour with specific next steps for your situation: what to preserve, what to change, who to contact, and in what order.
- An honest fit-or-referral verdict. If your case is not something we can genuinely help with, we say so in plain language and point you to the kind of professional who can. We do not string victims along.
- Court-aware guidance. Everything is framed so that nothing you do in the first days damages a future police report, civil claim, or protective order.
To be completely clear: all consultations are prepaid. We do not offer free consulting, because giving every caller thorough expert time is only possible when that time is paid for. What we promise in return is honesty about whether we can help before you spend anything more.
If This Is Heading to Court, Work Through Your Attorney
When litigation, a protective order, or criminal charges are likely, the smartest move is to have your attorney retain the forensics expert rather than hiring us directly. When counsel retains an expert, the expert's analysis and communications can fall under attorney work-product protection, which limits what the other side can demand to see. That protection generally does not exist when a victim hires the expert directly, and it cannot be added after the fact.
We built a page you can hand to your lawyer that explains exactly what Petronella Technology Group provides under attorney engagement, including a draft retention letter their office can adapt.
What We Do Not Do
Honest scope, before you spend a dollar
Petronella Technology Group specializes in crypto tracing and on-chain investigation, SIM-swap forensics, hacked-account investigation, stalkerware triage, and expert witness work. We are equally clear about what we do not do:
- Physical phone and tablet imaging (Cellebrite-class extraction of iPhones and Android devices). We refer this to labs that specialize in it.
- Custody disputes and family-law device evidence. We do not examine a spouse's or child's device for family court.
- Private-investigator surveillance. We do not follow people, run background checks, or unmask individuals outside a lawful forensic engagement.
If your case needs one of these, we will tell you quickly and point you toward the right kind of specialist. Related service pages: digital forensics, crypto forensics, and cybersecurity services.
Get the Resource Links by Text
Tell us your phone number and what is happening, and we will text you the links that match your situation. If you believe your email is being read by someone else, skip it. Phone is enough.